Messages - Verulfr

I've always felt that "The Serpent's Egg" would be in the running for their best work if not for the last 2 or 3 tracks.

More so "Mother Tongue" and "Echolalia" than "Ulysses". The first 2/3 of the album is, I'd agree, very good though. They were never quite able to match that label of quality (with any consistency, anyway) after that point. It's a bit interesting how the slow decline in their musical quality seems to parallel the slow decline of Brendan and Lisa's relationship...I believe it was around this time and the time and around Aion that the two began to split apart a bit more artistically. I'd say the entire DCD discography deserves some attention, though.

One problem that I had with the metal look is that no one recognized it as the metal look. Metalheads being so rare, young people are actually unable to recognize one. I usually got called either a goth or a hippie because of the black or because of the long unkempt hair. If I was lucky, I might get called a biker. I'm all for promoting metal and giving it a good name, but it's useless if no one knows you're a metalhead. Besides, everyone thought that I looked like Jesus because of the hair, insuring that no one would take me seriously. That's why I abandoned the metal look.

Indeed. In, I'd say, most parts of the North American continent, someone donning long, often unkempt hair is generally considered a hippy. Certainly this was the case when I had lengthy hair, anyway. As a result of this, it seemed many rational people of good character were driven away, not attracted - most who did acknowledge the hair length at all were usually liberals and/or hipsters who picked me out mostly for novelty. When wearing a death or black metal band shirt, it seemed the majority of people paid no mind at all (after all, most people only seem to pick out band names they recognize) unless the images on the shirt constituted something inappropriate, in which case relatives or other students would simply and quietly disapprove, further distancing them (my community) from myself. Looking 'metal' is valuable if you're in a situation where a shirt could flag down other intelligent people of similar taste, but seems unpragmatic for daily life, where it seems more likely to attract morons. The key, in my opinion, is to have others of intelligence take you seriously before you introduce them to the idea that you are into extreme metal. If they see you wearing black clothes with antichristian/morbid imagery, they're more likely to write you off than take you seriously. If they associate your already-established intelligence with extreme metal, however, they are more likely to take it seriously as a genre. Most extremely intelligent people haven't listened to Transylvanian Hunger or Legion.

Hah, don't push your luck. Most of the people here are liberal arts fags trying to make some use of their useless degree by waxing philosophical about heavy metal on the internet. That or they haven't even started college yet.

Releases since year 2000 [Have not heard material prior to that time period]: Bouncy and full of catchy Middle-Eastern melodies, it lacks a coherent concept beyond its 'unique' mix of black metal vocals and basic rock-metal structure. Stick to more rewarding material.

Music should demand the listener's full attention, but most modern music is too simple for that, so it makes great sleepytime music.

Though I generally agree, the time preceding sleep can be an excellent time to appreciate good music. With no distractions even as basic as light or external noise, the mind is able to fully focus and dissect great pieces in a trance-like state.

If license were given to create threads dedicated solely to horrible local bands, the forum would almost instantaneously be inundated with such material.

Quote

\ "Old school death metal" can be descriptive or a marketing term -- like any word or phrase.

It is increasingly the latter as opposed to the former. There are better descriptive terms than simply 'old school' to determine style and quality among intelligent metalheads when referring to such bands.